Continuous upsurge in Zika virus cases in the most populous states in India Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur has made it a hotspot for the mosquito-borne disease since an outbreak caused 89 people to test positive amidst 17 children.
The first case was reported on October 23 in the city when an Air Force personnel living in the Pokharpur area of Kanpur tested positive. positive for the infection. Samples of 525 people have been taken by health teams who were in close contact with the infected people within 3 km of the IAF station.
Zika virus was first identified in humans in Uganda and Tanzania in 1952. It can be transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito bite that usually bite during the day while its infection is similar to dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
According to WHO Zika is also transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, through sexual contact, from blood products, and organ transplantation including severe symptoms of a rare neurological disorder.
Most of the infected people do not show symptoms while others get fever or body ache. But this critical virus during pregnancy can cause birth defects among children where it attacks on the body's immune system.
"The health department has formed several teams to contain the spread," Dr Nepal Singh, Chief Medical Officer of Kanpur was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters. "There is one woman who is pregnant and we are paying special attention to her," he said.
"All positive cases are being visited by health department teams at their homes and their vitals are being monitored on a daily basis," said Vishakh G, the District Magistrate of Kanpur.